Social media has pervaded all elements of life in the modern world, effects of which are felt by both the young and old. Further, social media is found on several platforms, which include, Facebook,  Oukurt, Instagram, YouTube, WhatsApp, Flickr, and Twitter. These platforms have offered a social networking platform where people can chat, make friends as well as sharing photos and videos (Muller and Wiener, 67). The use of social media has had different impacts on people’s lifestyles with the young generation being hardly hit by the effects.  Technology advances has led to increased accessibility of mobile devices with special features that enable access to these networking sites. These social networking sites has transformed the interaction processes of the teenagers and their parents to a great extent. Although I have realized several benefits through social media, its effects have also negatively influenced my lifestyle.

Social media has had a great influence in my growing up since I first got exposed to social media; I have made lasting friendships with people I found on the sites. Additionally, the networking sites have offered me an avenue to vent and seek for opinions on issues that affect me (Muller and Wiener, 23).When I was ten, I did not have much interest in phones and computers, however, during my birthday party my uncle was present, and he was snapping photos from his phone. What amazed me was he could post the pictures on the internet the instant he took them.Before that, I had heard other students in school talk about some computer program that made it easy for them to communicate.Further, they said they could send each other messages, and they formed a social group on the websites. Seeing my uncle take the photos and instantly post, them on the net aroused my interest, and I pushed him to help me open a Facebook account although my parents were against this. The peer pressure to take part in what he and other opinion shapers around me were doing was  overwhelming.

My obsession was to have a Facebook account at all costs. I remember while at school, tempting my friend to create a pseudo account that we could use.However, he was not interested in social media,as he had not seen its purpose in his social life. This was until I explained what I had seen my uncle do with my birthday photos. Soon, he was more than willing to help me embark on the mischievous adventure to access his brother’s laptop in their home secretly. When his mom and brother had left to get groceries, we sneaked into his brother’s room (Conlin, 78). We were very excited when we accessed the site and one by one; we created unique personas for our profiles with falsified details not thinking of the implications. We were oblivious to the dangers associated with the internet site or the trouble it could bring us since we had passed on our details as two adults.

On the other hand, I made many friends on the net, with whom we could discuss everything from the latest movies to the newest hits; therefore, I was able to keep in touch with whatever was trending. However, as I spent more time on Facebook, my circle of friends in high school was dwindling.I came to realize these effects when I read an article on the net about how online social interaction was robbing teenagers the opportunity for in-person interaction. By having friends and family on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter, teenagers communicate with each other mainly through texts and other chats on these sites.Some too engrossed on their phones to put them down during meals or meaningful talks.

With time, I tended to antisocial behavior, where I could steal time from lessons to post or respond to someone else’s post or message.Finally, I got a phone at sixteen as a birthday present from dad and to herald my entry into adulthood (Conlin, 82). This led me to spend more time on the as I browsed any information I could find on the net. As such, I was always updated about sports, fashion, and movies, updates of which were posted on Facebook or tweeted this attracted other student into the online forums.Eventually, we would be engaged in online debates that ended up spending more of our time, and this diverted our attention from studies and other social obligations such as domestic chores.

Consequently, my overall performance at school started to deteriorate. I began failing test after test and tirelessly trying to explain to my parents why my grades were low. Somehow, I wanted to do better, but instead of studying, I usually found myself on the phone texting even more. I felt that my phone and social sites offered me an escape route, away from the pressure from the teachers and parents who were constantly on my case (Conlin n.p.). Most of my teachers in schools believed that time spent on social sites was directly proportional to performance, exemplifying that less time spent on the computer reflected higher GPAs.

Despite the caution, I could not help but proceed to access other trending social media platforms such as Flikr and MySpace. I actively registered for practically every single one of them that I had heard of. I became an outgoing person, but only on social media and not with people physically. I did not wish to miss out on anything fashionable. Apparently, the social media took over my emotions. If I was not excited about the new shoes on an advertisement in my news feed, I was mourning the loss of a football game by my favorite team or something else. As a result, I was becoming less caring to people around me and behaving rather aggressively towards them.

To sum it up, social media particularly networking sites have become part of my life as presented in the narrative above. Though there are some positive benefits such as enhancing my social life, there are also some notable adverse effects (Muller and Wiener, 59). For instance, increased addiction and low school grades are unacceptable.  It is, therefore, imperative for the society and parents to have control measures while dealing with this issue. I have also learned to be cautious while dealing with social media.

Work cited

Conlin, Mary Lou. Patterns Plus. Boston, Mass.: Wadsworth Cengage Learning, 2011. Print.

Muller, Gilbert H, and Harvey S Wiener. To The Point. New York: Pearson Longman, 2009. Print.

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